Backyard Orchard News
The Birds and The Bees--and The Butterflies
...Birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it Let's do it, let's fall in love --Cole...
Near the presence of a metal bird sculpture, two monarchs meet Sept. 29 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hi, Ms. Monarch. Here I am. Look at me! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Can I get your attention? Please? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hello, again. Here I am, over here. Over here! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Congratulations to UC Davis Pollinator Ecologist Neal Williams
With all the increasing--and alarming--global concern about declining pollinators, it's great to...
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenkii, heading toward a California golden poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Neal Williams working on his native bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
When Queen Bees Get Permanents: Calendar That!
"Drones are male bees that contribute only in the perm production for the queen." So wrote an...
A UC Davis student wrote: "Drones are male bees that contribute only in the perm production for the queen." That inspired Karissa Merritt to create this for the newly published Bohart Museum of Entomology calendar, now available for purchase.
“The swarmers are attracted to lights and tend to expose themselves in the evenings," a UC Davis student wrote about mayflies. The result: this illustration by Karissa Merritt for the Bohart Museum of Entomology's innovative calendar.
"The infected fleas can harbor rats, ground squirrels, rabbits, and occasionally, even house cats," wrote a UC Davis student. The result: this illustration by Karissa Merritt for the Bohart Museum of Entomology calendar.
Displaying the innovative Bohart Museum calendars are museum associates and the director. From left are UC Davis entomology student Abram Estrada; intern Sophia Lonchar of The Met High School, Sacramento; Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey; UC Davis entomology student Wade Spencer, and Bohart scientist Brennen Dyer, a recent entomology graduate. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Scientists Reveal New Method to Characterize Physiological Responses to Parasitism
Have you ever seen a wasp oviposit or lay its eggs inside a caterpillar? Or the egg of a moth? it's...
A parasitic wasp, Microplitis demolitor, laying an egg (ovipositing) in larva of soybean looper moth. (Photo by Jena Johnson of the Michael Strand lab, University of Georgia)
About That Three-Cornered Alfalfa Hopper...
It's green, it's tiny, and everyone is hoping it doesn't wreak any havoc in the vineyards. "It" is...
The three-cornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The three-cornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus, is a clear-winged, wedge-shaped (thus the name "three-cornered") insect that's about a quarter of an inch long. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)